The present invention relates to fire arm magazines, and more particularly relates to magazines configured to actuate a catch mechanism on a fire arm.
Ammunition magazines are commonly employed to hold a number of rounds of ammunition and feed each round to a chamber in a gun for subsequent firing. One type of magazine has a spring-loaded follower positioned along a passage. Ammunition is loaded into the passage on top of the follower with the associated spring positioned beneath the follower in a compressed state. Typically, this arrangement successively urges each round loaded on top of the follower into the gun chamber.
Sometimes it is desirable to hold a bolt or slide of a gun firing mechanism in an open position to inspect the chamber after all rounds supplied by a magazine have been fired. This arrangement not only permits inspection of the chamber, but also notifies the marksman that the magazine is empty. One type of fire arm has a catch which may be actuated by a fixed protrusion on a follower of an attached magazine. Once actuated, this catch holds the firing mechanism open after all the rounds have been fired. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,069,608 to Jurek and 4,888,900 to Howard generally describe magazines of this kind.
Usually, magazines of this kind must be configured with extra space to accommodate fixed follower protrusions prior to actuation. Also, these magazines are often designed with longitudinal slots and grooves to facilitate fixed protrusion travel along the magazine. Typically, these structural aspects complicate magazine manufacture and add cost. Thus, a need remains for a cost effective magazine actuator having an actuator which preferably occupies less space when inactive. The present invention satisfies this need.